The crowd of onlookers included Olympic worker Terry White. “I’m totally blind and I’m driven here today just by the spirit of the Olympics and the excitement of it all,” he told euronews.

Another man said: “I thought to myself ‘I’m going to be part of a moment in history.’ I felt the hand of history in a very simple but significant way and I think everybody has tasted that today.”

One woman could barely contain her excitement after the torch went past. “It’s amazing. It’s something that when you see it live it’s just, I don’t know how to describe it,” she said. “It’s just really, really good to see and it’s so great that it’s actually come to Britain and we wish Team GB great luck.”

And for one young girl it was a day to remember. “It was really, really amazing. I think this is going to be a lifetime thing. I’ll tell it to my grandchildren. It’s really good,” she said.

But the question everyone is asking is who will have the honour of lighting the flame in the Olympic stadium in Friday’s opening ceremony?